Oreshnik's possible deployment in Belarus doesn't increase danger to Ukraine

Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, stated this.

He called Putin's statement about the possible deployment of Oreshnik in Belarus another horror story.

"The possible deployment of the Oreshnik there does not increase the danger to Ukraine or NATO, at least because it makes no difference whether it flies from Kapustyn Yar or Belarus. All the talk about shorter approach times is a horror story for civilians in the West and Ukraine," Kovalenko said.

"This thing will not play a role for missile defense systems. Just like it was with the Kinzhal, which shot down a Patriot for the first time in history last year," he added.

At the same time, the expert noted a number of technical issues related to the possible location of Oreshnik in Belarus.

"Russia's main goal is to raise the stakes with fear propaganda against the West. Nuclear weapons in Belarus did not work informationally, the Oreshnik is used as a bubble in response to the permission to hit Russia with Western long-range weapons. And the deployment in Belarus will be accelerated purely informationally under the narrative of "bringing the Oreshnik closer to NATO borders" to change public sentiment in Europe. At the same time, Putin is trying to hide the fact that one of the two launches of the Oreshnik has already failed," Kovalenko summarized.

• Russian leader Vladimir Putin says that on November 21, Russia tested a medium-range ballistic missile Oreshnik during an attack on Dnipro. He added that Moscow would “respond to escalation.”
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russia has taken the second step toward escalation with the use of a new ballistic missile, calling the first the involvement of the DPRK military.
• Ukraine's Security Service has presented unique evidence of yet another Russian aggression by showing the world media the wreckage of an Oreshnik ballistic missile fired by Russia at Dnipro last week.
• On November 28, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that decision-making centers in Kyiv could be targeted by the new Oreshnik missile that Russia used to attack Dnipro on November 21.
• Experts say that Russia can produce 25 Oreshnik missiles a year.